Matis and I started talking and getting to know each other more. He was an only child from Havaldar, a coastal city on the other side of the country. He’d grown up primarily with his father because his mother worked for months at a time on Payandi, an island off the coast of Karys. His father built furniture for a living and while Matis grew to love doing the same, he’d taken a different route for the sake of a new experience. The more he spoke, the more I realized we had never really spoken about anything outside of work before despite the number of times we had eaten together.

“So, you learned to make furniture?”

Matis nodded, his mouth full.

“Are you any good?” I asked, my eye catching Don’s as he approached the table. I nodded to him when our eyes met and he did the same.

“Of course,” he said when he swallowed. He held his hand in front of his face. “Gifted. Hands of a master, you hear me?”

I took his word for it. “Is English spoken where you’re from?”

“English? Nope.”

“How did you learn?”

“Mother,” he said. “Mother learns English at work. She comes home and teaches me some words. I need to learn more so I sound… so I can talk better. I am glad you understand me because I never get to practice with natives but I get better after going to Earth. If I make mistakes… tell me.”

“You sound good to me.”

“And you? How is Alunai learning?”

I inhaled through my teeth. “I have zero confidence in my ability to speak your language but I think I’m at least understandable. I don’t know much yet.”

“You practice with Ionadi-sumeo?”

“Moreso Aubyn.”

“Aubyn?”

“Ges’sel Au Yin…-soh. He is my primary guardian.”

That announcement got the attention of the men sitting on the other side of the table. One of them stared at me for a moment before nudging Matis and saying something quickly in Alunai that I couldn’t follow. Matis responded back just as quickly and the two engaged in a brief exchange before looking at me.

“Just so you know, I didn’t catch any of that,” I said.

The man slid a glass cup just bigger than a shot glass in front of me. He then poured a clear liquid inside and made a drinking motion with his free hand. I drank from the glass, another sweet-smelling, rich, dizzying drink. “Diu-soh,” he said with a brief bow of his head. “Haida-soh, ani?”

“De,” I responded.

“I think this is a gift so he can ask about your relationship with Ionadi-sumeo,” Matis said through laughter, gesturing to the glass.

“Friends,” I said quickly. I didn’t know the Alunai word for friend. “He’s like an older brother.” How did Milan refer to Aubyn again? “Nao.”

Diu was clearly confounded by the way his thick brown eyebrows shot up to his spiky hair. I wondered if referring to Sang as an older brother was in some way disrespectful. He did say that I was to use honorifics with him whenever we were at work.

“Kowei,” Diu said with a shake of his head.

“What?” I looked to Matis for answers.

“Scary,” Matis said. “Ionadi-sumeo is from a palace family, I hear. That alone makes him… scary to even… even… approach.” Matis shuddered for emphasis and knocked back the rest of his third drink.

“Palace family?” I asked. I could vaguely remember Aubyn telling me something about Sang being close to the royal family. “Is he of royal descent or something?”

“No, no, no,” Diu responded, speaking English for the first time since joining our conversation. “Palace families work in the palace generation after generation. Some have worked with the royal family for thousands of years as advisors, military officials, stewards and anything else. They are entrusted with keeping the palace running. It’s better to entrust it to five families – generation after generation – than to employ people from fifty families. This way, it’s easy to keep all secrets within the palace walls.”

“Pfft! You believe that, Diu-soh?” Matis rolled his eyes. “It’s gossip.”

Gossip or not, I had no idea that was how the Karysian palace was run. I hadn’t even cared to wonder. “So you’re saying Sang-sumeo is from one of these palace families?”

“Yes. The Ionadi family have pledged their lives to the royal family. I hear they’re sworn to secrecy and can’t have a life outside the castle. Even Ionadi-sumeo’s children will carry on the tradition. If a palace family chooses to turn their backs on serving the royal family…” Diu dropped his head to the side, rolled his eyes back and stuck his tongue out so it hung out of his mouth. He was mimicking a dead person.

“Do they all die?” Matis asked.

“Unmistakably,” affirmed Diu.

“Do we now, Diu-soh?” asked a deep, amused voice. A pair of hands dropped heavily onto my shoulders. “Do you believe that, Zedikai?” It was unmistakably Sang’s voice.

I looked up at him and met his green eyes. I was stunned for a moment because he looked different. It took a few more seconds to realize why. His dreadlocks were gone and his hair was in fine plaits.

“Hey,” I greeted awkwardly.

“Were you talking shit about me?” he asked.

“Of course not!” I looked at Diu and Matis but Diu looked busy trying to become invisible and Matis was suddenly very hungry. Was Sang that intimidating? I’d thought him to be intimidating when I’d first met him too, but they had worked with him longer than I’d known him. Surely they knew he wasn’t as scary as he came off. “They were teaching me about palace families.”

“Ah,” Sang said, walking around to take a seat across from me that so happened to be right next to Diu. “A bit of a history lesson then? Go on,” he said, gesturing for Diu and Matis to resume their conversation. “Don’t let me stop you from educating our new teammate.”

“We… we were just saying how much greatness your family has helped our country achieve is all,” Diu said. He pushed the plate of shareables towards Sang. “Please, enjoy, Ionadi-sumeo.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“Where’s-” I started to ask.

“Outside talking to Coen,” Sang responded, taking the menu I’d had in front of me. “You are so predictable, Zedikai.”

Matis leaned in close once Sang had his eyes down on the menu and whispered, “Such casual talk. You two really are close.”

I’d never spoken to Sang in any other way, but I supposed it was a bit more casual than when I spoke to Siele. “I guess so.”

We ordered more food and drinks and chatted some more. Diu finally found his voice again and quickly took charge of the conversation. He gave the impression of an extrovert who was used to being at the centre.

I couldn’t distract myself for too long before I began to glance at the entrance every couple of minutes. Was Aubyn’s call with Coen really taking so long? I couldn’t wait around for much longer and excused myself from the table to go outside. My legs felt like jello being put to use again. I saw doubles for a few seconds as I righted myself. Maybe I’d had enough to drink.

“Careful,” Sang said.

I gave him a thumbs-up as I left.

I hadn’t realized how warm inside was until I got outside. The cool air outdoors was so refreshing and sobering. The sky was darkening and the streets and buildings around all had lights on. I looked around, but I couldn’t spot Aubyn anywhere.

“Hey!”

I flinched and held my hand to my chest. “You scared the shit out of me!”

Diu laughed. “Why did you leave?”

“I’m looking for Aub… Au Yin-soh. Sang-sumeo said he was out here.”

“Must be nice for a human to be so casual to a Daun’tonian and a palace family descendant while the average vacura walk on thin ice. Perks of being a pet, I guess,” Diu said. “Where do they find humans like you anyway? I thought you lot were scared of us.”

“Humans like me? I’m nobody’s pet.” It was the third time I was referred to as such. Diu and I had been having a normal conversation up until now. Was he just like Af’fy and was hiding it? He hadn’t sounded like he hated humans. “Sorry, did I offend you in any way?”

“No. I’m just as curious as the rest of our team. First, Ionadi-sumeo brings back a human pet, and then Ges’sel-soh brings back a human pet. It’s weird. Are there just tons of humans waiting to be an Othanaian’s pet? Or is the selling point getting to leave a dying planet?”

“Do you have a problem with me being here?”

Diu pursed his lips, his eyebrows pushed together. “Wait… no, no.” He shook his head frantically, his short spiky hair unmoving. “Was I too straightforward? I wanted to know how you became Ges’sel-soh’s pet, that’s all. I hear some pets have to sign non-disclosure agreements when they come here so you probably can’t tell me.”

My shoulders sagged in relief when I saw the genuine panic on his face. “I thought for a second that you hated humans too.”

“Too? No. I just didn’t want to ask in front of Ionadi-sumeo. Is it uncomfortable to talk about?”

“No, it’s not uncomfortable,” I assured him. “What is uncomfortable though is you referring to me as a pet. I’d rather you didn’t do that.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

“As for how they became my guardians, it’s a long story. Short version? I had a miserable life and coming here to change that was the only option I was interested in.”

“Ah.”

“And humans are warier of vacura than you think so I doubt they’re lining up to come here.”

“Really? Why? I doubt we’re that bad. I deal with paperwork and people all day so you and Milan-soh are the only humans I’ve really interacted with.”

“A lot of humans don’t like anything different from what they’re used to, even if it’s another human. If it looks, sounds or behaves differently than what they know, they try to destroy it instead of trying to understand it. That also goes for vacura.”

“You and I don’t seem all that different to me. Two arms, two legs, eyes, lips and a mouth… I can speak your language and you’re learning to speak mine. What’s the difference? Where we were born?”

“Where you’re born is the least of the differences. You’re still not human and that’s always going to be the deciding factor.” I looked at him seriously. “Not for me though. You’re just another person to me.”

He scoffed and cracked a smile. “You’re not half bad, pet.”

“I’m not a pet!”

“It’s not as derogatory as you might think it is. It’s at least not how we see it. Gouhun-Ije Goya translates to Guardian-Charge System. Guardians are responsible for providing the basic needs of their humans. From food to their health and well-being, they have to do it all. Does that not sound similar to how humans take care of pets?”

“It still sounds like an insult to me. I’d rather you call me Zedikai.”

“Zedikai-soh it is then. Oh, and…” He gestured down the street to a figure leaning against a vehicle. “Ges’sel-soh is right there.”